The Middle East – the next frontier

01:46:00
Ramona Dragomir
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"Go West" is sooo overrated! :P

Captain’s journal: World Snooker chairman, Barry Hearn is leading the ship of snooker towards the sunny Abu Dhabi.

According to “The National”, a newspaper edited by the Abu Dhabi Media Company, Barry Hearn, this Jean-Luc Picard of snooker is trying to organise a Middle East Masters in the UAE, Abu-Dhabi somewhere around the year 2011, in October.

It seems that snooker is becoming more and more poplar in the East, well…we all know China and its hunger for snooker, so our captain thought that a little push from the back will result in more snooker tournaments all over the world. Hearn knows his business, he has been in the sports industry for some time now and he sure knows when to take a step forward in order to promote snooker.

Innovation is the key word and new ideas are what snooker needs now. “The Snooker Enterprise” has already landed in Germany, where this sport is becoming more and more popular; actually the first EPTC event will be held there, so this gives you a strong idea about the existent market. It’s true, the German market is maybe one of the biggest and opened market in Europe. The music industry is huge and many international artists had their first steps there. Like an irony, many international singers are still very popular in Germany, in their own country remaining practically unknown.

"Buckle up, boys!We`re heading East."

But snooker has to break the European borders as it did in China, so the Middle East seems like a good idea. I’m sure the Captain Barry has his connections and knows what he’s doing.

And to see that the UAE are pretty interested in this sport, they have a top ranked player, Mohammed Shehab, who finished third place at the World Games in Taiwan, last year. He enjoys very much our captain’s idea of “snookering the place”: “Things have improved. There are now some serious sponsors who are ready to back an event in the UAE and we are hopeful of hosting something next year. There is a strong snooker society here as it is, but such a tournament would help improve interest in the game.”, said Shehab.

Abu Dhabi

I remember Pet Shop Boys “Go West” song. They are now so far away from the truth :)) The next frontier is the Middle East, when the sun is shinning, the “black gold” rules and the opportunities are rising every day. :P

Captain’s journal: “Every day is challenging. I do 300-and-something events all over the world, so my biggest challenge is just staying alive and enjoying it for as long as possible.”